Conor Coady could ‘suffer’ at Everton with Sean Dyche in charge claims Sky Sports pundit in ‘casualties’ verdict
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Conor Coady may be one of the Everton players to “suffer” as a result of Sean Dyche replacing Frank Lampard as manager says Kevin Campbell.
The on-loan Wolves defender appeared a lock to remain at Goodison Park on a permanent basis when a regular starter alongside James Tarkowski, with the former boss stating on 23 December he would “love” to get the deal done [BBC Sport], but he has since lost his Toffees place under the new manager to Michael Keane, as well as his spot in the England squad.
Sky Sports pundit and former Toffees captain Campbell accepts that it is the way of the world when there is a change in the dug-out that some players become “casualties”, while citing Abdoulaye Doucouré as an example of those whose fortunes head the opposite direction.
He spoke exclusively to Goodison News about Coady’s long-term prospects at the club and said: “That’s down to Sean Dyche. Obviously he’s worked with Michael Keane before. Keane and Tarkowski played for him at Burnley.
“Maybe he sees something in Michael Keane at the time that is going to benefit the team.
“And to be fair he’s done pretty well when he’s come in. Whereas before he used to make a few mistakes, now he looks pretty solid.
“There’s going to be casualties no matter what. Doucouré was out before and now he’s back in.
“So there’s going to be players who improve and there’s going to be players who suffer from the new regime.
“That’s just the way it is.”
Clearly Dyche’s familiarity with Keane and Tarkowksi from their days together at Turf Moor is having an affect, and it may have put paid to Coady’s Blues future.
Everton don’t have the luxury of spending millions on players that the manager doesn’t envisage using, so unless he sees the ex-Molineux captain as an asset going forward then the proof is probably in the current team sheets.
Keane and Doucouré looked like they were essentially out of the door under Lampard and now are key contributors again, but with exits inevitable their revivals may now have come at the expense of the man who even wore the captain’s armband for the 1-0 win over West Ham back on 18 September.